Left Side of the Pitch
Left Side of the Pitch discusses the beautiful game both on an off the pitch. Episodes will cover notable moments from the 2026 men's World Cup as well as the social movements, protests and grassroots organizing that make football the beautiful game.
Left Side of the Pitch
Wrapping up the Group Stage & Cross Cultural Pollination!
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Chavez, Johnson and Romo are back in action to discuss the end of the group stage matches, the amazing love between supporters and the usual insights on the beautiful game. We are joined by Tony and a surprise appearance from Victor!
Special thanks to Cristy Road Carrera @croadcore for the art and Manu Chao @manuchaoofficial and Groupe MilanoYali for the music.
What up y'all? Welcome back. It is Left Side of the Pitch, the podcast dedicated to talking about the beautiful came, both on and off the pitch, very much focusing on the people and politics that make soccer and football and foosball and all the rest of it. Just an absolute bubble soccer. Absolute passion and uh you know obsession here. Um we're at, I guess, the unofficial left side of the pitch, HQ, uh Boomtown Brewery once again, and we have a full panel this time, and so let's go through name, pronoun, and which underdog team has impressed so uh excuse me, which underdog team has impressed the most so far.
SPEAKER_04What's up, everybody? Chavez, he, him. I'm gonna have to say Cabo Verde, uh, you know, their tactical discipline throughout this tournament so far, their defensive masterclass against Spain with that 0-0 draw, but still uh, you know, showing they can still score against Bielsa Azurguay with that 2-2 draw. Look, they're playing with this belief. Um, you know, they play tonight, I think, against Saudi Arabia. A point guarantees them a round of 32, a win, I think, gives them second place in their group.
SPEAKER_01So Cabo Verde. Let's go, Cabo Verde. Hello everyone, good to be back. Romo He Him. The one that's impressed me the most so far has to be hands down Ecuador. Uh such an emotional win yesterday against Germany, firmly in third place. Uh, it was, I mean, amazing. I don't know if Germany played all that well, right? Because they uh securely um landed their first place spot in the group. But nonetheless, the fact that Ecuador um put up two to one and finished out strong. Just to see the fan base going crazy in the stadium is just very emotional, very moving and inspiring me. Makes me want to get out there and play, maybe. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Definitely. Uh it's Johnson, he him. Um, I gotta say, Paraguay, um, especially having seen them just crumble in the first match against the US. I thought they were just doomed. I thought they were done. And then seeing them gut out that 1-0 win against Turkey. I it was just I'm still so impressed. Like they've absolutely won me over in how hard every single player worked, ran their ass off, just they would have you know punched through concrete walls if if they needed to for the team, kind of thing. And so they were so impressive. They they got the draw against Australia last night, and as far as I can tell, I think they're pretty well in with four points as far as a third place team, and so um good on them. They look atrocious to start, and I guess it's better to start slow and then end, you know, on a on a high note, and so um, yeah, we'll see how far they get to go. And um, you know, everyone's trying to pay attention to the the the the third place teams and the round of 32 matchups and all the rest, and um, it's gonna be a cool couple days.
SPEAKER_01And I want to say real quick too, I think this is when this is a kind of a theme we keep coming back to, right? With the the team the expanded format of 48 teams, like it's something that hadn't been anticipated, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like these these kind of and and wasn't celebrated coming into this at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like third place teams. Like at first I was kind of like, eh, well, what third place teams? Like seriously? Like they don't deserve to fucking go through. I'm here for it. But now it's like this dude is so exciting. It's been a pleasant surprise. Yeah, man. It's really cool, right? And that the underdogs are slotting into most of these, most of these third place spots is really exciting.
SPEAKER_04Look, right now, as of right now, I think all Colmebol teams are scheduled to go to the round of 32, which is a good thing to see. Uh, one World Cup, I'd love to see more Conca Caf teams qualify, right? But uh I think it's a good sign right now.
SPEAKER_00For sure. For sure, for sure. Um not that there's not crazy headlines in the news, but we're gonna postpone headlines probably till next episode and jump right into start sub bench. Um our version's uh uh a bit different um to where we're gonna make a statement about a very specific thing within the game, within the Copa, and if you start that, then you you know fully agree and have to give some reasons why. If you sub it, you're kind of neutral or partially agree or anything else, and then if you bench, you totally disagree and give your reasons why. This World Cup has been exceptional for cross-cultural pollination.
SPEAKER_04I'm gonna start that. I think seeing the footage of you know Mexican fans embracing South Korean fans, um seeing people from two different nations exchanging jerseys. You sent the post the other day, Johnson, about uh what was it under the pouring rain, the Mexican fans doing rowing, right? Like Norway. So, you know, I think seeing images, seeing footage, uh, you know, of folks just that solidarity amongst folks, you know. Um I think it all that political bullshit, you know, that's that's for the elites, right? Like football is is for the people, is by the people.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Yeah, I I I'm starting this as well. Um just right back right back to the theme of the 48 teams, right? It's it's really and it's opened up the door for so many underdogs. Um, yeah, the South South Korean uh think of the Koreano, hermano, yeah, it's mexicano, right? And and then all the a lot of the anticipation that seemed to have died died out by today, but the original anticipation or expectation or whatever was that Mexico might face Scotland in the round of 32, and then all the social media posts going wild about like, dude, they're not gonna have enough beer and shit like that, which is absolutely true, you know what I mean? RIP Scotland. But yeah, it's it's it's been um it's been great. It's it's really been unifying in the face of Chavez's point, in the in the face of FIFA's corruptness, you know what I mean, and the bullshit politics that are always humming in the background or the foreground. Um it's good to have that kind of reclamation, right, of the game, for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, I mean, this one we started off with a total softball, right? Who who's not gonna start this one? Um so absolutely star, as Chavez mentioned, um, there was video of a uh Ecuador supporter and a German supporter swapping jerseys as players would after Ecuador beat Germany, and it's just a beautiful moment. It was just a lot of people. I want to do that next time. I want to do that. Right, just thousand percent love, dude. Just like what an amazing formative experience um and all that. And then, you know, the the the scene at the beginning of um uh Colombia and Dr. Congo, there's a single Congolese uh supporter just so happy to belt out their national anthem, surrounded by uh uh Colombia supporters, and and for a while I'm like like why are they recording? I like you know, I don't get it, whatever else. And then as soon as he's done, just surround him, you know, hey, hey, hey, hey, and just absolute love, absolutely, you know, just amazing. Um love it. Sadly, uh last night and and more to come on the US match later, I went to a a public viewing party in Long Beach where they blocked off like two city blocks with really cool setup and all that. It got packed, and it was just more of that reason why people hate the US team and hate US supporters, and it honestly kind of shifted me further from my my 100% support that we were playing Turkey A. Uh, we score early, yeah, cool, good, good, good chance, and and celebrations and all that. And then Turkey A, you know, a couple minutes later equalized. There was a lone uh Turkey A supporter where we were in our little section. So he cheers. It's it's the first time his team scored in three freaking games, right? Cool, cheer, like love it. These four absolute meat heads behind us, boo, boo, you're going home, you're going home, you're and and like start to get in his face and shit. And I'm like, you fucking assholes. Yeah. So I start yelling at him, like, let him like, let him enjoy his goal, let him enjoy his goal. And they're lit, they're looking to like rumble, and so I'm just like, let's get the fuck out of here. And we ended up, we ended up moving to a a different part, but it's just like leave it to US, leave it to the US supporters to just make it so stupid and so you know domineering and like colonial, and like this is why people hate us. Like, this is this is asshole behavior. And so, with that one little caveat, like, uh fuck those four dudes. Y'all didn't even know shit about soccer, um, but massive love for everyone else. Um, and it's just been beautiful, man, absolutely beautiful. Um, and and hopefully it's just the beginning of even more start, sub, or bench.
SPEAKER_04Messi is giving the greatest ever World Cup performance.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna sub this one. Um he he actually is, but I think it's too early in the tournament. So, five goals, right, so far. Yep, three games played, broke all kinds of records, surpassing who knows who for everything, basically. It's too early in the tournament. I I think when I think about the likes of Ronaldo, right, 98 Ronaldo for Brazil, I think about the likes of like 98 Zidane for France, Romario, right, 94 Brazil, Maradona 87. I I think the deeper he gets in this tournament, if he for me, if he is able to deliver performance, half of what those guys did at his age, right, and with the legacy he already has behind him, then yes, hands down. I think it's a little I think it's a little too early. So far, it's amazing, incredible. I'm gonna sub it.
SPEAKER_00I'm also gonna sub. Um It's wild to think that they have two wins, they've scored five goals, all five have been messy.
SPEAKER_01All messy.
SPEAKER_00I'm wondering why someone doesn't man mark for 90 minutes and just sit somebody on that guy. Because he doesn't move around. It seems so basic. He just walks and then he waits for his moments and all that. Just sit someone touch you know, touch tight and and do your best to shut him down. Obviously, they have other weapons. Obviously, they have Lautaro and and and Julian and like you know, some other people. But but make them beat you like that then. Obviously, the their the entire other ten players are there entirely set up for Messi. Like, fuck with that. Like, like break that up. And so um, I don't think they're gonna find the same joy once they're playing bigger, stronger teams. Good point. And I I still don't think they're gonna repeat as champions. And so I think there's others that did way better. Maradona 86 has to be top of my list. Um, I mean I was four, but I've watched all the YouTubes and all the documentaries and all the rest. Um 30 for 30 man. So we'll see. Yeah, amazing there.
SPEAKER_04So I'm gonna start it. Let's go. I'm gonna start it only because look, they have Arentina Messi has his World Cup. Right? He his team is still playing for him. He's playing with such freedom. There's less pressure on Messi. Yeah, right? And I think who do they who are they playing tonight? They're playing Jordan, I think. Jordan Jordan, right? So, you know, I'm gonna expect a couple goals there. As of right now, if the current standings, they might play Uruguay in the round of 32. Uruguay is not strong. No. You know, I'm gonna expect Messi to do well there. Yeah, good play. And I totally agree that like as the tournament, you know, you made a really good point, Romo. Like, okay, I was almost gonna say sub it as well because it's still early in the tournament. Right. But he still has a team that's gonna run for him and fight for hell with him, right? Yeah, that's true. And I thought same, you know, I was talking with my son, you know, who plays soccer. I'm like, why can't you just man mark him? Put the number six on him, just sit on him. Yeah, just yeah, take away his passing angle, you know, the angles, all that.
SPEAKER_01Time and space that he has, right?
SPEAKER_00It's not like he's moving around a lot. He stands there and then he walks, and then all of a sudden he comes alive and scores.
SPEAKER_04And it's like But I think right now he's just playing with so much freedom and and just when he reads the game so well, dude.
SPEAKER_01That's just fucking crazy. I mean, he'll deliver one pinpoint pass that'll just tear through a defense. That's all you need. Yeah, that's all you need, right? That's so I'm definitely that one. So right on. Start sub bench, official balls, World Cup match balls, that is, that move and cause chaos, like the Jabulani from 2010 South Africa, and the Trionda, possibly wearing stuff like that, uh, from this current World Cup, are good for the game.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna start it. Uh I'm gonna start it. Shut up, dude. Um Jabulani were.
SPEAKER_01You understood the question, right?
SPEAKER_00What shot?
SPEAKER_01Go ahead, bro. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_002010 was South Africa, Jabulani, and that ball was ridiculous, and keepers were left on their ass, like wondering what the hell happened, and and and all the rest. Um and just as a viewing spectacle, as I'm there there at home, I absolutely love it. I'm a I'm an official paid up dudes dudes paying member of the the goalkeepers union and and and I I constantly, even when goalies play against my team, whoever I'm rooting for, I always give them praise. That even being said, that even being said, make the ball go crazy. And and it's wild that Jabulani was wild and and moved so much, and then um uh Trionda, the current one, is rumored to kind of have similar issues because they're too round, they're too spherical, and that you actually need more ridges, more texture, more whatever to like break up the aerodynamics, I guess, or something. But I mean I'm here for it, man. Make them do like knuckleballs all day and fucking crazy shit. Hell yeah, let's go.
SPEAKER_04I'm gonna have to bench it. I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to bench it. Yeah, I'm not surprised. Part of this is like the Pierce and me and want to see and wanting to see just a badass kick, a badass free kick with no help from the ball, right? The knuckle ball, right? And so man, you can't give you don't want to give the field player that much of an advantage over the over the goalkeeper, man.
SPEAKER_00But both teams are playing with the same ball. It's not like one team has has an advantage. I get it. I get it. So if it's moving crazy for one team, it'll move crazy for the other team.
SPEAKER_04And like I don't like it. Too much of a purist for this one, man.
SPEAKER_01I'm benching this shit. I'm with Chavez. I'm benching this shit. No, man. I mean the no fun club over the city. The law of physics. I mean, you got you know, the law of physics, man. You know, you're gonna if the ball's gonna come off the foot at an angle, then you know that's that's a predictability that that both as fans and as players, right? That that we're expecting. So, I don't know. Um it just, yeah, yeah, I'm benching it. I think Chavez covered most of it.
SPEAKER_00That's fine. That's fine. Um you somebody's gotta be the adults in the room while I have all the fun, I suppose. Of course. Whatever.
SPEAKER_06Friend that's a good one.
SPEAKER_00Alright, y'all, there's been far too much, far too much, yeah, right. Not enough. So much football in this last week. Never enough. Hook it to my veins. Um, and we're gonna go over a few notable matchups, a few notable games, stuff that we have rooting interest in, or we're just particularly uh cool. So on June 18th, we had uh the Mexico-South Korea match. It was hella hyped up. Um again, thinking about that cross-pollination uh amongst supporters, just tons of love between um the people of Mexico and all the visiting uh Koreans, and just you know, so many amazing videos and pictures and all that of them just being amazing hosts and all that. Um sadly the match did not really live up to the hype. Um, Romo, what do you think, man?
SPEAKER_01Like Yeah, I agree. Uh yeah, really excited for all the hype and the game itself. Um it's kind of crazy because it seems like so much has happened since June 18th. We're now towards the tail end of you know the third match in the group stage, so we're uh going over you know second match in the group stage, but it's all good. So um yeah, I mean Mexico controlled the temple. Um and of course my cousin, he's not really my cousin, but maybe long-lost cousin, scored the lone goal. And it was it was a bummer too. I felt really bad for the South Korean keeper. And really it seemed like the defender because when they showed the replay of the goal, the South Korean keeper was clearly yelling like keeper, keeper, keeper, whatever you're I got, I got it. And the the defender just froze. Yeah, the defender just needed to get the fuck out of the way. Yeah, man. And so, you know, of course, right, um central midfielder Romo was there to capitalize it and and and and put it away. Take advantage of the uh opportunity like you always do. But you know, this is what one game that I had eyed early on back in shit. I don't know, February, March, whenever the schedule came out, the game that was in Guadalajara, and I wanted to go see this game. Yeah, man. But funny enough, when I was getting, and I probably wouldn't have done it because it'd probably have been a really irresponsible financial decision to do that. That's okay, man. YOLO. Exactly, YOLO, man. YOLO. Uh right around that time when I had the opportunity to get a ticket, the flight out, and everything like that, it was when the uh the cartel madness was happening right in Jalisco and all in that area in Guadalajara. Uh and I texted my cousins down there who are in Central Mexico and Aguascalientes, and they're like, Yeah, it's just pretty fucked up here right now. So I backed off of that. Um, but nonetheless, good game. Um Mexico wins 1-0 in the end.
SPEAKER_04Not a good game. Okay. Wildly disappointed.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely not a good game, bro.
SPEAKER_04It was such a stinker. I watched this with my son. I watched my son, hardcore Mexico supporter. He was pissed off after this game. I was too. There was a lot of long ball, and I guess, you know, I think South Korea showed up to play a little bit more defensively. I get it. Yeah. But for a lot of stretches during this game, it was just what midfield? They were just bypassing the midfield. It'll go from the center back line all the way up, booted up to the forwards, and on both sides. Both teams were doing it. And it was just really boring to watch. Um I would have been a lot happier with the drawing as opposed to Mexico winning 1-0.
SPEAKER_00I didn't understand the tactics from either team and wasn't really sure what the hell they were going for. And it would have just been like such a snoozer nil-nil draw had it not been for the big error and all of that. Because it was just awful.
SPEAKER_04I had hopes for Mexico because they had just come off that really surprising win. I mean, maybe not the win wasn't surprising, but that sh the way they played against South Africa, right? When I saw that game, I was pleasantly surprised. And now I'm, you know, this is coming from uh someone growing up as a Mexico hater, right? And being super critical of the Mexico national team. Yeah. And and being surprised the way they played against South Africa, and then going a complete 180 against South Korea. So, and then what really pissed another thing that pissed me off was, you know, I've been watching it on Telemundo, one of the pundits saying this game was magnifico. Oh, get the ball. I was like, bro, come on. Was it?
SPEAKER_01Other than them winning 1-0 Romo's cousin? Antonio Romo. Right.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm looking at a quick look at the stats. I mean, to your point. I mean, XG or what? To your point. I'm saying, look, for me, it's been there's so much has happened, man. There's so much has happened, so it's like I don't the win is what I remember. But yeah, to your point, is there's a goal in the 50th minute by Luis Romo. And then in the 87th minute, there was missed opportunities by South Korea. And that's like the highlights that the quick Google search will give you. It was not much. You know what I mean? Yeah. Um I'm more pissed off about the most recent Mexico game, but I know we we can get to that later.
SPEAKER_00Uh couple days later, we saw Ecuador take on uh Curacao and Absolute Slug Fest. Um this seems to be a really big turning point for both teams. Sadly, only one of them looks like they're gonna make it to the knockouts. Um I only saw the highlights on this. I didn't watch it. Um, but what a performance from the Curaçao keeper. 15 saves, y'all. 15 saves. Eloy Room, um, like move over move over Vojinha. Like there's a there's a new uh keeper that that has captured our hearts. Um just what a performance, right?
SPEAKER_01Okay, there you go, Columbus Cruz. I I think Okay, I think I might have remembered that from my my FIFA PlayStation Nation.
SPEAKER_00In the USL now for uh Miami FC. Oh, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01Hold is he?
SPEAKER_00Is he good on him? And again, it's one of those, like my my my nephews are in town specifically to to be around a little bit more footy culture. They they live in Arkansas, and I don't even think they're aware that the World Cup is happening in Arkansas. That's crazy. Um and so they came out just to to kind of soak it up and and and they're a little bit being haters on the the 48 team format. Um particularly with today's uh five-nil Senegal over Iraq. Iraq ends with zero points and a negative eleven uh goal differential. And so there's there's rumor that they're gonna go all the way to uh a sixty-four team. Uh field as as soon as 2030, and they're like, why? So we're gonna have more you know, these like blowouts and whatever. But it's like it's not about that. Like even Iraq, I guarantee all every single player is stoked to have had this experience. Like they wish it would be a good idea. It turned out differently, but it's gonna be memorable, it's gonna be transformative, it'll be a highlight of their career that they made it and they experienced it. And and that's that's that's Kurosao with with this performance and and Eloy Room with him, you know, looking great, they're not gonna advance and they're an else.
SPEAKER_01Okay, he's up there, I like it. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think a theme that's brewing out of this podcast, right, is that I think we're supporters of this 48 team format. You know, I think it's this cross-pollination, right? Absolutely. This solidarity amongst peoples, about different cultures, bringing people together. I'm not there yet. I'm not sold yet on increasing the numbers, you know, but you know for Iraq, right? People who support the team of Iraq, Iraqi citizens, man, why not? Yeah, and it's all Kuraçao, everybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it's opening it's opening the door for these countries that you know are on the quote unquote fringes, you know? But it also has them with the skeptic and me also uh can't help but to think like, oh, this was always the plan all along, right? Let's let's move to 48 because eventually like our 10, 20 year plan is gonna be to get to 68.
SPEAKER_04I think I saw a stat which is fine in 2022, FIFA profited 7 billion. They're gonna double that this tournament. Fuckers. Yeah, I heard 13, man.
SPEAKER_00So gross. Crazy shit. Yep. So gross. And and yeah, and on paper, this I guess sort of makes sense, but like no cities make any of that money. Like, LA's not making money, you know, the Bay. It's a net loss, whatever. Every city's taking taking a loss, and FIFA's like, well, we're gonna use this money now to finance the next World Cup and to invest in all the federations around the world so that you know game can grow and all that, and it's like, get the fuck out of here, dude.
SPEAKER_01And then like locally you have all this corruption, fucking backdoor money laundering, like, what was his name? Uh from Trinidad Tobago and Jack Warner or whatever, right? That man shit's taking place like as we speak. I mean, yeah, one hand one hand washing the other, man.
SPEAKER_00Um just recently, yesterday, in fact, um, we kind of touched on it a little bit, uh, Ecuador. They they were very much a lot of people's dark horse. A lot of people's, you know, they'll definitely get out of the the group, maybe they'll make a somewhat deep deep run, they look pretty strong. And then they came out stumbling and bumbling, looked horrible, had to win against uh Germany, against four-time World Cup winner Germany. Um played amazingly well, amazingly well. I got to watch um that match, and they looked dominant. Germany had no response. Um here comes a new challenger. What's up, buddy? Hi, how good to see you join us, man. All good. So Vic Victor, come on. This is Chavez. Uh I teach them at Wilson. This is Romo. Yes, Victor. You you you you already know this is Tony, my oldest friend in the world. And uh, and and and who are you? Can we get uh name, pronoun, and what team has impressed you the most so far of this World Cup?
SPEAKER_03Uh my name is uh Victor Montalvo. I work for Boomtown Brewing Company. Um pronouns are he, him. Um honestly, team that has impressed me. Honestly, Mexico, man. I'm not even Mexican, and I think there's something electric happening there. Um I I go based off of the energy that we see here at the brewery and just how incredible it's been to see people like the community just come together. Like this has been one of the biggest couple weeks of our a couple days of our history, and it's we have a whole freaking month left. Um I don't know, man. France freaking killed it today. They're they're on one, on a sick one. I don't know why uh Holland didn't start with Norway today, but you know, like maybe that's why the outcome was.
SPEAKER_04I was reading, uh sorry to interrupt, but like I was reading a quote from the coach, he said, This is our first time here, or the first time in I don't know how many years, the most important thing was to make it to the round of 32. He knew this game was gonna be a slug fest, maybe he was trying to protect Holland, but he's like the most important thing was to make it to the round of 32. They've made it, so yeah.
SPEAKER_03That makes a lot of sense. I mean, especially yesterday, as soon as Polisic went in, you saw the change with US. It was night and day, you know? Like, it I don't know. It's it's exciting. I'm I'm running on fumes here. Gotta love it. Gotta love it, bro. Uh come visit Boomtown Brewing Company for for uh watch parties. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01Shout out to Boomtown! Shout out to Victor Love it.
SPEAKER_00Unexpected love, appreciate it from Victor over here. Um, amazing dude. Um yeah, uh nice.
SPEAKER_01Fellow futbolista.
SPEAKER_00Nice little cameo, yeah. Fellow footbolista, fellow couple.
SPEAKER_01Germany does have four World Cups to their crest.
SPEAKER_00Four?
SPEAKER_01They do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I did. I went, I was like, three, uh, I'll go with four, and then yeah, pulled that one, pulled that one out of the out of the hat. But um, yeah, back to that game. Amazing game. As soon as Ecuador, you know, really pushed and and got the lead, Germany just had no response. It was it was wild, and those Ecuadorian fans are just amazing. They travel so well and they hold it down. Um, even this place, I I you know, we can we can ask Victor later, maybe. Um uh Boomtown has huge watch parties, Brazil, US, Mexico, and then Ecuador. I I'm curious if if he's Ecuadorian or you know somebody else, what's the connection? But I I I feel like they this place probably pops. So um did did either of you uh get to to to watch that one live and check that one out. Rummel, what do you think?
SPEAKER_01I really paid attention towards the end. Um where they put in the uh the final goal. And I mean just how emotional that was and the response from the fans. I think it was just I mean the energy just came through on the TV at home, you know? It really did, yeah. Them crying and how much how and and and apparently this is Germany's first defeat in the group stage to a South American team, which is huge as well, right? Like just those history making, which again, this theme coming back, right, to the 48 team thing. I think Equadhod would have made it if it was still the standard 32 team format. Um being that they led, you know, Conme Wall in qualifying and stuff like that. But nonetheless, I mean just just serious dark horse moment and the fact that this means that they rolled, it looks like they're pretty solidly gonna finish in one of the third place slots, you know, eight out of the 12 third place slots is is very, very exciting for them. And they got you know, they got some wind in their sails now, man, going into the knockout stages where they didn't they stumbled off the blocks, you know, at the beginning of the group stage. So very exciting, very happy for that.
SPEAKER_04Definitely love seeing that Ecuador energy, you know, for the qualifiers, they ended up second just behind Argentina. You know, they they were above Colombia, Brazil, very strong defense, you know, in that 18-game qualifying tournament, they only lost two games. It's crazy. So I think it speaks a lot to to the quality of their team. So definitely nice to see them beat Germany, um, you know, and another you know, another Colmer Bol team uh moving on to the round of 32. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Two days ago, Mexico played their third match against Czechia. Um, I was actually able to come here to Boomtown for a watch party. Holy shit was it.
SPEAKER_07Look packed, man.
SPEAKER_00It was beyond standing room only. Like we was probably like a violation of the fire code kind of thing with how packed this place was, and it's a big space.
SPEAKER_01Um all Czech fans, I'm sure, right?
SPEAKER_00Oh nothing but we and and we were hoping because I again I want to see more of that like cross-cultural pollination, and I feel like this crowd would have been cool if there was some some some Czechia supporters and stuff.
SPEAKER_04For sure.
SPEAKER_00Wasn't any, but um, and obviously an overwhelmingly pro uh Mexico crowd, and it was a rad experience. Um the match ends 3-0. Um Romo, you have some notes down here that's a tale of two halves. Um what do you think in that that that tale?
SPEAKER_01Tale of two halves. I was okay, so I I was driving back from the bay. Uh this was Wednesday, the game took place Wednesday night, and and part of it was like trying to get back in time for the game, right? That was like the mission. Made it back in time for the game, only to see Mexico just totally come out flat, sitting on the ball, uh Keeper Rangel holding the ball for like five as as long as allowably possible.
SPEAKER_00So slow in their buildup.
SPEAKER_01Embarrassing, man.
SPEAKER_00Midfielders just walking in the ball.
SPEAKER_01It was embarrassing, dude. Like it was like, why is why even show up and play, bro? Like you're acting like you're too good for this shit, though.
SPEAKER_04Does the fact that they already had won the group have anything to do with it, right? I think has everything. I was not impressed. I went to my father. It was actually on my son's birthday. Uh Messi's birthday, right? Also on the 24th, right? Wow. Yeah, my son and Messi share the same.
SPEAKER_00It's a sign.
SPEAKER_04And so my son, big Mexico supporter. Um, I just got him a 1998 Mexican jersey black one, right? Yeah, yeah, for the colour.
SPEAKER_00With the calendar? Yes, yes, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04And so he kind of just stopped watching after the first half because it was Mexico played very unimpressed, right? With their style of play. And again, right? If coming from someone who's super critical, who grew up wanting Mexico to lose, and I've grown, right? Look, I'm wearing a Mexico jersey today.
SPEAKER_01I love it, man.
SPEAKER_04And so I've grown, I've matured. I I want to see Mexico play well, and I'll give them credit if they are playing well. But and maybe again, because of their first game, they set these high hopes for me. Their second game I was unimpressed. This third game I was unimpressed, right? So again, maybe because they had automatically they already had won the group, maybe that had anything to do with it, but again, yeah. I don't know, man.
SPEAKER_01I just and I and I think that's like the one downside to just going more like with the rule change and everything, right? Because now they're deciding it's head-to-head, right? That's like the first title. Over goal difference, yes. Yeah, over goal difference. So, and I just don't remember these many like wash games in the third, you know, match day of the group stage. Um, but nonetheless, like show up and play with fucking heart. You're in the Azteca, man. You know, like show up and play with some heart, like have some pride. Like it was it was come out swinging.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and so the result will give folks like a false impression, I think, because I think it shows more to the quality of play from Chechia, right? And so I don't think they were the strongest opponent. And so I'm not gonna give Mexico any credit or that much credit for this win.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think I I saw the match through green, white, and red glasses in the sense that I was here and you just the the enthusiasm was contagious, and I was a couple beers deep, and you know, we were all hype.
SPEAKER_04Just a couple?
SPEAKER_00A couple, okay. Easy, all right. Times two or three. Easy eight.
SPEAKER_01I believe you, John Senior.
SPEAKER_00Um that first half was rough. Once they started scoring, um it was a lot of fun. The the the goals, it was like once they broke that seal, then they were able to kind of like attack and and create chances and execute and finish. And then just on the you know, side note, and it's it's more, you know, uh uh people story and whatever, but um, as soon as uh Memo Ochoa was on the sideline ready to summon, everyone lost their goddamn mind. Everyone was was I bet you know losing it. And I'm I'm stoked for him, you know what I mean. He he didn't make you know massive saves or you know, keep him in the game or whatever because it wasn't really necessary. Right. But cool that he got a little bit of a run out. Everyone's saying that's most likely his very last you know uh uh minutes with L3. Swan song, man and total swan song, and there's that that moment where he's on one knee and his his arms are on his knee and he's just kind of looking and and soaking it up and all that. And I I I loved I love the the thoughtfulness of that and the the you know uh mindfulness and just you know it's cool. And I mean he I as a US supporter he's terrorized us for so long and made massive saves and and you know punked us from gold cups and in qualifying and whatever, but nothing but respect and love for the guy and and everything he's had accomplished and you know um couldn't ask for a a better backup or a better veteran presence on the squad and so yeah it was good.
SPEAKER_01Way to end it on a positive note, man, because I'm still pissed off about that guy.
SPEAKER_00Had to bring it back, dude. Y'all y'all are like salty as hell, man.
SPEAKER_04I appreciate you, man. Salty as hell. The soft did me. It was nice seeing him just you can see, you know, Ochoa being tear-eyed, even just waiting on the sideline to be subbed in. Yeah, bro. You know, and soaking it all in by, you know, how what is it what does the Azteca seed? 80,000, 90,000? I don't know. Right. I think it's close to like 100,000. Right. And I can imagine what that feels like because everyone knows he's not gonna get any more minutes in this tournament.
SPEAKER_01Check you again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he's definitely not gonna get any more minutes in this World Cup, and probably not ever again. This, you know, I whether whether he announces his international retirement soon or whatever is, you know, besides the point. So just a cool moment that we got to see there. Last game we're gonna cover uh again was yesterday. US V Turkey A, the last of the group stage for the U.S. Um a disappointing 3-2 loss to Turkey A for the U.S. Um good for Turkey to kind of salvage a bit of their tournament. Um, and this gives us an opportunity to introduce uh another participant here. Here comes another challenger. Um my oldest friend uh Tony. Tony, you want to introduce yourself? Uh give me name, even though I've already spoiled it. Um give me your name, your pronoun, and briefly what team has impressed you the most. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02My name is Tony. My pronouns are he, him. And uh the team that has kind of surprised me the most, um, I'm gonna say Sweden. I'm not sure a lot of people know this because uh Sweden actually finished last in their qualifying. That is true, yes. Switzerland and Kosovo. And they only got in because they won the uh Nations League group. Yes. So they were then brought in to the playoff round, where then they knocked off Ukraine and Poland. So now they're wide away at the World Cup. Yes. After their group stage, four points, and they're in the round of 32.
SPEAKER_00So they had like the hardest journey to get here, kind of.
SPEAKER_04It's a surprising disappointment, I think. Look, uh Graham Potter, their coach, I'm a fan of Graham Potter in his days with Brighton, and but they have a lot of talent. Anthony Nalanga, Isak, uh Gyokiris, right? And so to barely qualify? That's wild.
SPEAKER_00I had no idea. Yeah, I did that uh they're here. Qualify on the round of the You were not with me at the watch party. You watched from your house, but everyone's kind of freaking out. We went from two games of the U.S. dominating and the U.S. are obviously gonna win the World Cup, to now the U.S. are garbage and people acting like they're not even gonna advance to the knockout round. Um, what's your takeaway from this Turkey A match?
SPEAKER_02The freaking out is um a little ridiculous. You know, the United States, they already qualified after the two games, which was unprecedented for us, to be honest. Absolutely, you know, Pochettino was then able to rotate the squad. He was able to then sit some of the players that had yellow cards, and at the end of the day, he's identified who he can trust and not trust in the knockout round. So I think the uh, you know, the narrative that we've lost momentum and all this stuff, I I don't stand by that. I think uh the U.S. are in good shape to continue to progress.
SPEAKER_04Definitely. I think yesterday's game shows that this isn't a deep squad. I think aside from the 11 starters, you maybe have three or four more max, you know, coming off from the bench. But I think it also showed how this team relies on Christian Pulisic. Big time because when he came on for the last 30 minutes of the game, the game completely shifted. Chances created, everything, and so, which is great for him, great for the team, but also a little concerning if he's not on the team.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I agree. I think I think depth, I think you hit it right on right on the head. Um, I mean, it kind of goes the same for Mehagel, right? It's just want these teams to go deep, want them to do well, but it start thinking can they stand up to that pressure, right? When this the tournament gets serious, right? When depth is needed, when it's like you gotta dig deep and everybody's gotta like chip in at like several notches above what they're able to. Um was happy for Turkey A in the game yesterday. Was not sure why, and maybe you guys should shed some light because you know you're following more of a wide poach, kind of what I see like kind of played with his food a little bit. Uh I get it, right? You want to rest some players, you want to kind of get experimental, you want to try out the depth and stuff like that, but it just seemed like so many changes that just really backfired against the game. Nine changes. Nine changes with that many, yeah. It just seemed like it really backfired in the end. Um yeah, that was that was my impressions of the game.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I will say that the depth of the American team is not there, especially in defense. I think at the end of the day, we can trust trusty, but uh a lot of apologies to Tim Reign because he is one of the staples of the defense, and we're gonna have to rely on him a lot going forward.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Um I'm seeing it as a positive in this sense of we know who we can depend on roster-wise. Uh uh Pachicino has more information about his squad going forward, right? And and who to bring in as a sub and who to start and all the rest of it. I'm assuming from now on it'll be the same starters from the Pottawai game and the Australia game. And then I think there's something to be said about playing through adversity. I was totally fine when we were tied, and honestly fine when we gave up the winner at the end. It was kind of heartbreaking, but um I was stoked for the couple Turkey A families that were there watching, and they got to have a little bit of joy. And I think a little bit of a reality check, a little bit of a gut punch is gonna be good going into the knockout rounds. And then I think of a team like Mexico who hasn't even given up a goal yet, and how much this game is psychological, and if you go down early and heads drop and your body language shifts and all that, and if you haven't had to battle through adversity, you're you're a weaker team. And so, if anything, I think this is gonna be a bit of a positive, a bit of a boon going into the knockouts. Um and you know, we'll we'll see how far the US gets compared to teams like Mexico and everything, but I think it's gonna end up being okay. Like any and and anyone who's sounding the alarm who's you know calling the the crisis and all that, they probably don't know what the fuck they're talking about. And they watch the US every four years and are soccer casuals at best, kind of thing, because that's just not really how it works. We're gonna do something new. Uh now it's time for the lightning round. I've come up with a small little quiz, um, and we're gonna see what our participants know about the squad. Um three of them, or two of them rather, have laptops out. No cheating, no, no using your laptops, no using your phones, no. You got brisk on or what? No AI, no, no, no chat. Guardians and shit people. Yes, absolutely. Go guardians on. I have heard this World Cup described as the Muslim World Cup. 14 nations. Because 13 actually. Oh, okay. Because there are record 13 Muslim majority countries participating, which is a record, obviously, probably a result of the 48 team format. I'm gonna start, and we're gonna start with Chavez. It'll go Chavez, Romo, Tony, and you have to name a Muslim majority World Cup participant, otherwise, you are out. And you'll be out for like that round, and then you'll be able to jump back in because we don't really give a shit, and we're non-competitive, and it's always two to two. So beer stores already. Hey, that's that's just brain juice, bro. Brain juice, okay? So we're good. So Chavez, give me one of the Muslim majority countries. Morocco. Correct.
SPEAKER_01Jordan.
SPEAKER_00Ding. Qatar, Qatar, ding, Algeria.
SPEAKER_01Ding! Fuck, you took mine, bro. Iraq. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Iran. Correct?
SPEAKER_04Bosnia-Herzegovina.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Roma, you're on the clock. I'm drawing a blank. Drawing a blank. Got nothing? We can come back to you.
SPEAKER_04Come back to me.
SPEAKER_00Tony, you got something? Egypt. Egypt! Oh shit.
SPEAKER_04Damn, that was my next one.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh. There's quite a few left.
SPEAKER_04How many do we got down already?
SPEAKER_00Uh you've gotten there's one, two, three, four, there's five left.
SPEAKER_04Did we say Iran already?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_04Did we say Iraq already?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_04Jordan. Already said it. Algeria. I said that. You said that, bro.
SPEAKER_00Stop. Stop like you're looking at your phone, Dick. Can we come back to me? Yes.
SPEAKER_01Saudi Arabia.
SPEAKER_00Saudi Arabia. There's four left. One of them just won today against another Muslim majority country.
SPEAKER_02Oh man. Senegal.
SPEAKER_00Senegal. Absolutely. 96%. Oh shit. Muslim folks. One country we just talked about, they got a uh a you know constellation win last night.
SPEAKER_01Turkey.
SPEAKER_00Turkey, 99%. Two more. One of them is from North Africa and had an amazing qualifying run and then totally stunk it up.
SPEAKER_01Hannibal's team, Tunisia.
SPEAKER_00Tunisia. And then the last one, I love their flag. I love their uniform. I trip out that they're like Asian Russian. And I I think they're it's it's such an interesting Uzbekistan. You know, yeah, exactly. It's such an interesting ethnicity in that sense. One of the stands, Uzbekistan. So great job, y'all. You uh stunk it up and beautiful looking people too, man, based on their squad, like beautiful looking people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Just like this indigenous Asian, Russian, Far Eastern European, like, yeah, like very unique. Very unique.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Going to the cross-pollination. Don't look like them.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Very cool.
SPEAKER_01Distinctly love it. Was that it? Can can our can our cognitive load like take a rest now? Like for the quiz? Or are you fucking gonna like two beers in, bro?
SPEAKER_00Go back to your to your normal mediocrity, Romo. Appreciate you, man. Yeah, of course, of course. Um yeah, hopefully. Hopefully you uh followed along and and and played um on your own and from the car or from the uh exercise bike or wherever it is that you're listening, all 40 of you that uh are our supporters now. So thank you for the downloads. Thank you for the downloads. Like and subscribe. We appreciate you. Um as uh regular time wraps up, we are here in extra time, our deeper dive on a couple different topics. Um Uruguay and Spain are kicking off. That also means Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia are just kicking off. Um you might hear some of the game sound, the sadly Fox commentary um in the background. Umce again, Falklalas. Um so keep in mind on that. But we do have uh a couple things to talk about. Um I was able to attend a match um very fortunately, in part, thanks to Tony here, um, which which bought him a uh a golden ticket to be a participant. He got he has the uh Trump golden visa now um to join the podcast. JK, JK. So you should see the uh faces of these these uh these idiots here. But back on uh June 18th, we got to see Bosnia against Switzerland at SoFi. Um Tony was able to snag four tickets from the fucked up FIFA lottery, um, and it was fairly reasonable, 400 bucks a pop, um, which is what every ticket should have been for this damn World Cup. Um, and was was was more than um enough there. Uh Tony, what'd you think of that match experience? What'd you think of the the game? Um any takeaways from that? Unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02Um definitely a bucket list experience. Just the unity within the crowd. I was so surprised that it truly did feel like it was about 80% pro-Bosnia. Swiss were very limited to a specific section, and that was it. Um the Bosnian Ultras were out there, they were chanting, they were singing, they were jumping. It was such a cool sight to see. Um, at half, I was worried, I was like, my World Cup dream of being here. The game is nil-nil. What if I don't see a goal? Oh god and the game ended four to one. Um and it turned into a slug fest uh for Switzerland a little bit more so uh in the final ten minutes because the match finished four to one. So it was a great experience. Um I actually am going back to the World Cup next week, um, going to see the uh the winner of the group from Spain and then the runner-up from another subgroup right now. It's looking like it could be Spain and Austria. So looking forward to that.
SPEAKER_00And uh yeah, it was terrific, exciting stuff. Um going into the match, there was four of us, none of us had a rooting interest. You know, we were hoping to see a good game. Um I no one really cared if it was Switzerland or Bosnia or whatever else. The moment we got into the stadium and we see the level of Bosnian supporters and and their passion and their voice and all the rest, we all became Bosnia fans and we're just like, hell yeah. Like they just won us over. Um each team had their big, you know, uh supporter section, everyone wearing the same color and all that. Switzerland, they were just standing there, or I don't even know if they were standing, honestly. They were probably sitting there, they were quiet, they had no songs, they weren't even cheering. The Bosnia supporters were amazing. All the choreo, all the flags, the drums, all the songs. They were singing the entire match. Even before the match, the uh PA system plays some sort of Bosnian pop song, and the whole stadium sings along, and we're just like, what is this? You know, we we we we don't recognize it, we don't know what they're saying. It was 80% Bosnian supporters, and it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Did not translate into their team doing well. Yeah. Um I was very excited to maybe get some photos of some Bosnian supporters, maybe even get like a little bit of a sound bite. I had my recorder with me and everything. Um and then all of a sudden, Switzerland scores. A couple minutes later, Bosnia gets a red card, very harsh red card, probably a yellow at best. And it was like, I don't want to talk to any of these Bosnia supporters and ask them for anything or be like this goofy guy that's wearing a red jersey. I was wearing my my uh Mosala Egypt jersey, which could be easily confused for uh for a Switzerland shirt and all. And so I I decided to kind of leave him alone and all. And so uh Bosnia does get a goal, it's 90 plus two, 90 plus four, something like that. Absolute banger, full volley, um, probably 22 yards out, and just bulges the net. Amazing goal. Where we are, it's a smaller section, and a Bosnian supporter had been standing above us, runs down our stairs, cheering, going wild. I'm the second seed in, and so as someone who loves to connect with people, loves to be very extroverted and all that, I reach out and I smack his shoulder like hell yeah, and I go up for the high five. He pulls back from me of like, how dare you touch me, kind of thing, and cocks back to to throw a punch. And I'm like, oh god, please don't. Like in my face is just like, what? Like, this doesn't compute. And and my buddy Mikey is at the end, and he's like, fool, hands off, fool, hands off, man. Don't touch him. And I'm like, oh god, sorry, dude, like go Bosnia, yeah, like kind of thing. And it was such a a weird interaction that like he comes down our section to down our stairs celebrating. I think we're gonna celebrate together. Maybe he saw my red shirt and thought I was like taking the piss and like fucking with him, but that was not the reaction that I expected by any means.
SPEAKER_04Umlination, man.
SPEAKER_00I was trying to for that. I wanted us to go viral. It could have been like US supporter and Bosnian supporters, celebrate gold together, and it would have been great. And he was ready to just knock my block off, man. And I was like, oh god, sorry, dude. Okay. And then there was this group of four Bossian supporters in the section next to us, all wearing uh military berets. In my dumbass, fucking privileged, soft, you know, it's cool. Like, yeah, they wore like some cool gear. It's like thinking if it's more like cosplay, it's like, hey, let's get all let's get all amped up and whatever else. And they and then they looked great and they were cool and all. And I was like, shoot, I I, you know, wanted to get a photo of them, and then the game kind of went south, and so I'm like, I don't want to, I don't want to bug them. Match ends, four to one. We're walking out of the stadium, and I happened to end up right next to two of those supporters wearing berets. So I'm like, alright, cool, they're right there. And I turn to the guy just to my right, closest to me, and I say, Hey, great game, y'all played with heart, and that red card call was bullshit. The ref sucked. His compatriot just next to him, I think mishears me and maybe hears bullshit, maybe here's sucked, and all that. Maybe there's a language barrier. He leans into me and he goes, What did you say? And and and and not in a like, I just didn't hear you, it was like, I'm ready to murder you, kind of thing. Oh no, no, like I think the ref was was was garbage. Y'all shouldn't have had a red card. I think you could have won, you know, if if it wasn't for that red card, as soon as you went, as soon as they went down to 10 men, they they were toast. And Switzerland imposed themselves on them and all the rest. And so once I kind of clarified things, they were like, okay, okay, yeah. And then um, you know, we we we start talking a little bit more, and I'm like, hey, I I I'm pretty sure you're gonna beat Qatar, and and I really hope you make it to the knockout rounds. And and they're like, oh, thank you, thank you. And they give me like a little little little bro five kind of thing. And it was cool, so I was like, all right. And then I I kind of push my luck a little bit and I say, hey, you know, we we I know typical Johnson. Um, you know, I I I I wasn't really sure who to root for coming into it, but the the passion of your supporters and all of it really won us over. And he looks me dead in the eye and he goes, You don't know how many fathers and sons sacrificed themselves so we could be here. And I'm thinking, like, like, uh, okay. And he goes, Some people paid money to be here. We paid in blood. And he points to his, like, inside of his forearm, and I'm like, oh god, like, good luck to y'all, thanks. And I just sped away. I'm just like, I need to, I need to to leave before I go bust and misstep somehow and all that. They're far too young to have fought in the like 92-95 Bosnian war and all that, but I think that's what they were referring back to.
SPEAKER_07Sure.
SPEAKER_00And and the you know, sad, it was horrible, it was a literal ethnic cleansing ethnic cleansing of Serbia trying to wipe out um uh Muslim Bosnians, the uh uh Bosniaks. But I was just like, oh god, like this means so much more to them from my dumbass that's like, yeah, soccer, like let's go, kind of thing. And it was just like, wow, and and mind you, I'm six feet tall. They were like four or five inches taller than me, every single one of them, and just brutes. And so good luck to them. I'm stoked that they made the knockouts. Um now we play each other. If you're listening to this, and obviously they're they're gonna be listeners of the pod. Um, you know, good luck to y'all, and um, yeah, thanks for not beating me up.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, as as it stands right now, USA is is set to play Bosnia on July 1st up in uh up in the Bay Area.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yeah. And uh they're gonna be looking for Johnson.
SPEAKER_04We're gonna send you up there, bro.
SPEAKER_00They're gonna they're gonna have like a uh a printed out photo of me um just trying to scan the crowd.
SPEAKER_01Irony aside, that is like the cross-pollination right there. Right? Because you you don't know what your reality is until you come up against another reality kind of thing, right? And I mean that's 100% you quoted just a little while ago. You you you want to hate the world.
SPEAKER_02Yes, if you want to hate the world, watch the news. But if you want to, I believe it's if you want to love the world, travel it.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. So not necessarily traveling the world, but the world's traveling here, and right, and it's kind of that compare and contrast. So I'm sure you're not leaving with any hate in your heart. Oh, absolutely not. From that experience, you've got love in your heart. Yeah. And right, and it's a tremendous learning opportunity. And I mean, it's a crazy ass story.
SPEAKER_00Just a slight misreading of the situation, right? And and and being a bit too casual, a bit too familiar with people I don't know. Yeah. Which which is again something that's a fault of mine. You know, I'll I'll hug a stranger any any opportunity I get, kind of thing. Um but yeah, just uh being able to look behind the curtain.
SPEAKER_04But is that more of just our culture here? Just like, you know, we're here at a stadium, we're just gonna have a good time, man, regardless of what team reboot for, you know what I mean? But at the same time, you're also wearing the colors of the opponents.
SPEAKER_00I I I chose poorly. I chose poorly as uh a neutral color and been able to kind of blend in or all the rest, and so it it could have just purely been that. They they they see red in a literal and figurative sense.
SPEAKER_01To your question, I think it's also and what what you said homeboy said is fucking deep, man. Like in terms of what's at stake, yeah. So everyone knows, right, we're the export of culture and sports here in the United States. Yeah. There's there's a shit on the line for us, man. I mean, even like Philadelphia Eagles fans, you know what I mean, compared to like a Bosnian fan, like that's that's a huge awakening, you know what I mean? Um that's crazy. I'm glad you're safe. Yeah, I'm glad I'm safe. Nothing like serious happened as a result of it.
SPEAKER_00I would have loved if I would have been able to get five, seven minutes of an interview out of them and like like tell me a little bit more about what you were saying, kind of. Not that we're cool, but but yeah, they they they definitely gave me the the the vibe of like you're you're on borrowed time with us kind of thing. Let's let's let's part ways and kind of good luck to you. And again, nothing but love to them. They were they were very kind and and again we we we parted on great terms, but I could just they they made it clear that they're coming from a a very different perspective, like you're saying, w when it comes to this and what it means to them, and it's not something to be taken lightly and and getting pumped for one, they're not in the mood to open up to strangers and shit like that, which I can totally respect and it's fine.
SPEAKER_04I'm curious the stories that are being told, right, as far as their journey here and what you said as far as like was it the blood or something, right? You know, like the stories they're being told from from the older generations and how that led to it is for sure.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And we don't have that here, right?
SPEAKER_01That's that's the element of privilege that we carry here, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Romo, you were able to go up to the Bay and visit Levi San Francisco Stadium uh and see Algeria v. Jordan on the 22nd. Uh Algeria uh looked very good, much improved, and guts out a 2-1 win. Um any takeaways you want to share from that particular matchup?
SPEAKER_011-2-3, viva Algerie. One, two, three, viva Algerie. That's part of my cross-pollination and learning about the chance. Love it. And then I'd love to learn the chance. I love to learn some of the fan cultures being around it. Jordan, you know, they had a lot of chance, they're really boisterous, uh, even more so than the Algerian fans. Wow. It was just tough to understand because you know, other chants that I could hear was in uh Arabic. So, but it was a lot of fun. The diaspora was out representing hard. Uh, a lot of folks, fans on both sides sporting Palestinian jerseys, which was awesome. And I commented on a couple of them saying Palestine's my Valentine. They're like, yeah, that's good. A lot of Kufias awesome. I'm gonna use that. Obviously, you know, Jordan has their own version of the Kufia, which I learned. It's a red and white sort of getup, as opposed to black and white, uh, with the Palestinian brothers and sisters, but a lot of fun. Jordan got their their um you know, their time in the sun when they scored, they went up 1-0. And then Algeria sort of controlled pretty much the whole game. Ibrahim Massa, man, he's my new man crush, I'm telling you. I didn't follow him, I didn't know who he was. He plays for Bayer Leverkusen, but maestro of the midfield. It was cool to see Riyadh Mares, but getting up there in age, but Massa held it down, man. I mean, just pulling the strings from the number eight, man, from box to box. It was awesome. And because of him, that's really what got Algeria the win. Um and and and like I think I mentioned earlier, is there was no animosity between the two sides. You know, it was the first match that I've been to was an all-Arab affair. Um I think it was maybe the second or third African team that I've seen. Only the second Arab country in the mid, you know, the Mideast, so-called Mideast, uh, that I've seen after Iran that I saw a couple weeks ago. Uh so it was a really good experience for myself, uh, even though we were way up there in the fucking nosebleeds and it looked like a tactics board, you know, watching the case. That's dope, man. But a lot of fun. A lot of fun. I wanted to hook up with folks that were there at the game. My phone died. And I had no way of contacting Aragon.
SPEAKER_00Did you not charge your phone before? Very responsible, dude. Very responsible. I did, but we had an hour drive. I didn't And you don't charge while you drive?
SPEAKER_01I didn't charge it in the car.
SPEAKER_00Bro.
SPEAKER_01I didn't charge it in the car.
SPEAKER_00Dude, that's that's an on goal right there, bro.
SPEAKER_01Big time, dude. That's an on goal. Big time. I'd planned to contact Aragon, meet up at halftime. My college buddy Rummy was there with his wife. Planning to meet up with him at halftime.
SPEAKER_00Dude, all the left wing Oakland folks and everything. I I bet we're there.
SPEAKER_01Ah. Wow, dude. Yeah. But nonetheless, the match was a lot of fun. Um towards the end, when Algeria went up two to one, it was hilarious, dude. There was it wasn't scary, it was hilarious. There was um a really dorky, middle-aged white dude in our row in our section, and he was going to the restroom, and it was kind of like kind of one of those lulls in the game, and like the crowd gotten a little bit quiet, and he got up and he starts chanting by himself as loud as he could. Latzkow Jardin Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Latzcow jard. Dorky as shit, bro. And he has this t-shirt on that says White Dudes for Harris. And I'm like, my wife and I are looking at him like, who the fuck is this? And so this other white cat, this other middle-aged white cat in the same section, comments out loud. He's like, says the dorkiest white guy ever, and starts mocking. It was it was. Love it, love it, love it. The funniest fucking shit I've ever seen. No game recognized, no game. No game recognized, no game, man.
SPEAKER_04So who won that game? Algeria? Algeria 2-1.
SPEAKER_01Algeria 2-1. Okay, man. They went behind 1-0. They scored two unanswered. Um, and that pulls them solidly. I think they're in a good position to be one of the third place teams going through. Yeah. One, two, three. Viva Algeri. So good match to be at.
SPEAKER_00Love it. Love it. And and just to clarify, um the language of Algeria is French. French. And then the language of Jordan would be Arabic. Arabic. So you're getting a lot of multilingual chants and cheering and all that. Correct. Yeah, even even though they're they're, you know, uh Muslim cousins and and you know, it in that sense have the connection.
SPEAKER_01And there were Algeria folks speaking Arabic to the Jordan. I'm sure, right? Because multilingual, you know what I mean? Yeah. Um, which tends to be the case, right? Like countries other than the US fools speak like five to seven different friggin' languages. Oh, love it, love it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I mean, the the US is the only country where we're predominantly monolingual, and the rest of the world is multilingual.
SPEAKER_01English and Spanglish at best, you know what I mean? Yeah. For sure. But again, there were there was this sense of like cross-pollination, it's kind of like buzzword, right, of the show here. Uh, where there's a lot of kind of reaching across and like, hey man, sorry about the loss, you know what I mean? You guys had a good World Cup from Algeria to the Jordan fans, and Jordan fans say, no, you guys played terrifically, and really kind of pumping each other up and giving each other that respect, which was you know, I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_04Looking at the standings right now, Algeria are out of the third place team standings. So they still have one more game to play, but they would need a tie in order to qualify in order to get that fourth point in order to knock out possibly South Korea. It kind of looks like most teams are gonna qualify for the round. As far as a third place team with four points, there might be a few teams with three points who will qualify. But uh, because of that goal difference, you know, it looks like Algeria might need that win in order to qualify.
SPEAKER_00Alright, y'all. It is the 23rd minute. Uruguay and Spain are nil-nil, but it is the 90th minute for this episode of Left Side of the Pitch, and we are wrapped up. Hope y'all enjoyed. Uh it's been another fun one, and we will catch you next time. Uh, viva Palestina. Valestine is my Valentine. So good. I gotta use that one. All right, y'all. We're out.